


Eternity

by WolfieChan12



Series: Heartache [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Fluff, I'm so sorry, M/M, very irritated naegi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-11
Updated: 2013-12-11
Packaged: 2018-01-04 09:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfieChan12/pseuds/WolfieChan12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the world around him ceases to crumble, when he’s finally back on his feet after all the time that’s passed, he goes about life as if nothing ever happened.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eternity

 

                When the world around him ceases to crumble, when he’s finally back on his feet after all the time that’s passed, he goes about life as if nothing ever happened. He forgets it all; the sense of impending pain from the message that roused him from sleep, the slow and mechanical way he paced along the sidewalk, the deliberate walk up to the doorstep, the searing pain he experienced when he stood in the entryway and listened to _why_ he was being abandoned and _why_ it was never meant to be.

                He’d listened to the words that floated between them, to the questions that were never asked, the thoughts that could never be thought again. Though he’d tried to understand, he couldn’t bring himself to do so; with each passing day for the first while, it hurt far too much to question _why why why_. Eventually, however, the pain became nothing more than a dull numbness that filled his every thought of Togami, and in time, that too had faded away.

                Now, he’s perfectly fine. Now, his world is no longer completely wrecked, and it is ever so slowly rebuilding. For the first time in a while, he’s happy. While it’s true that Togami still occasionally crosses into his thoughts when he’s sitting and resting, he no longer feels constricting agony whenever those thoughts pop up. The happy times, the bad, all play in his mind like broken record. Over and over and over again, the same scenes – the best and the worst, never the ones in between – continually loop.

                The two months they’ve been apart feels almost like two long, horrid, distress-filed years, but now, time is moving on at a completely normal pace. Though…

                …Naegi’s all but forgotten what _used_ to be, and even if it doesn’t hurt, he still misses –

                -- he cuts the thoughts from his mind and goes about his daily routine. Who knows? Togami could be _married_ and _perfectly happy_ without Naegi. The two haven’t spoken since then, and if they’ve crossed paths, Naegi certainly hasn’t noticed at all. Maybe he hasn’t wanted to notice, though.

                He’s sitting at the table eating breakfast – a simple meal of toaster waffles with margarine and syrup – when his phone buzzes lightly against the light wood. He pauses mid-bite, his jaw hanging open and a forkful of waffles hovering before his mouth, and his eyes shift towards the phone. The contact I.D., strangely enough, is labeled _Togami-kun_.

                His hand goes limp and he drops the fork; noisily, it clatters onto the plate, and for a moment Naegi forgets to close his mouth. When his jaw finally shuts, his hand hovers hesitantly over the screen. He wonders over and over what Togami could possibly want after so long, and he’s not sure he wants to find out. It’s probably a wedding invite. Frankly, Naegi doesn’t want to even think about it, and his finger taps the _open_ button.

                The content of the message is, simply, one word: _“Naegi.”_

                Clearly he’s meant to reply. “ _yes?”_ He regrets it almost as immediately as he’s sent it; with a brief sigh, he gathers his fork from where it fell and continues to devour his breakfast. It’s Sunday, the last day he has off before he has to go back to college and to his part-time job afterwards, and he’d really rather _not_ spend it in Togami’s shining presence.

                _Especially_ if the latter is really, truly, engaged now –

                -- it hits him like a ton of bricks that the mere thought’s made him _jealous_ , and Naegi curses himself as he finishes eating and sloppily places his dishes in the sink to be washed later. By the time he comes back to his phone, the screen is flashing with a message notification.

                _“It is imperative that I speak with you now. Open your front door.”_

                “He’s… he’s kidding, right?”

                As it turns out, Togami is absolutely serious. Naegi opens the front door of his apartment to find that the blonde is standing there, arms crossed with his phone in one hand, the backlight from the screen casting a dull glare on the lenses of his glasses. He looks stern although he isn’t frowning, but his eyes flicker when Naegi demands, “ _What_ are you doing?”

                “Did I not make myself clear enough? I stated that it was imperative –”

                “No, I know that.” Naegi intercepts, inwardly sighing. He shoves off the growing feeling of irritation and attempts to keep his voice level as he asks, “This is about the wedding, right? You want me to attend?” He guesses without another thought.

                Togami stares incredulously, dropping his arms to his sides momentarily until he can tuck his phone into his back pocket, and then his arms re-cross and he mutters, “Incredible. You’re still on about that?”

                “ _No_ ,” Naegi starts a little too sharply, a little _too_ defensively, “but that’s what I guessed you were here for.”

                Togami clicks his tongue in contempt; Naegi stares, dumbfounded, at the former. The two exchange a round of awkward silence before Togami sighs and says, “The engagement was cancelled last month, per my request.”

                “Oh, that’s…” Naegi begins, but he’s completely unsure what he’s even supposed to say to that, so he trails off and falls silent. “I’m happy for you, then. I have stuff to take care of, though, so I’ll catch up with you later.” The tension in the air – although, maybe he’s the only one feeling it – is thick and washes over the room in uncomfortable waves. Togami doesn’t even nod as he uncrosses his arms, turns his back to Naegi, and starts on his way at a fast gait.

                Naegi wonders why Togami suddenly cancelled the union when he was the one who initially stated that “to be a proper heir, he had to get married”, or whatever it was at the time, but he shoves the thought aside and goes about his day. Periodically, that same question pops up, but by the time he’s in bed for the night, the thought of asking disappears from the back of his mind and he falls asleep without bothering to check his phone for any sort of explanation.

               

                When he wakes on Monday morning, the first thing he does is grab his phone and ask Togami – who hasn’t bothered messaging at all – why it was so _important_ that he speak with Naegi about how he and his former wife-to-be called off the engagement. He feels almost nervous sending the message, as if he’s crossing into forbidden territory, but nevertheless Naegi presses the _send_ button and then immediately makes for the shower.

                By the time he’s out, his phone is flashing with a message notification. He doesn’t look at the contents of the message until after he’s dried off and dressed for the day, and once he’s gathered what he’ll need, he turns his attention to his phone while he has a few minutes.

                _“It’s really none of your concern as to why.”_

                _Yes, it is!_ Naegi protests sourly in the back of his mind, but the cloud of perturbation around him dissipates when another message pops up underneath the current one,

                _“I assumed you’d like to know, imbecile. That’s why I informed you.”_

                _I really couldn’t care less…_ Naegi glowers at the screen before powering his phone off, jamming the device into his pocket, and leaving for the day. In reality, it’s nice information to have, and though he tells himself he doesn’t give a damn, he can’t help but feel the least bit happy that Togami bothered with him after all this time.

               

                He turns his phone back on in the middle of a lecture. Next to him, Kirigiri is avidly scrawling down notes in a thin notebook; he figures he can get her notes from her later, as he usually does, because the professor talks far too fast for Naegi to keep up with. He gives his aching hands a break as he checks his phone – for some reason, he’s feeling some type of hope that maybe Togami has bothered to message him. Togami rarely messaged first even _when_ they were in a relationship, so whenever Togami initiates a conversation, Naegi knows it has to be something important.

                He waits patiently for his phone to boot up all the way and continues scratching down the notes that he can get. A few minutes later, his phone vibrates in his lap, which in turn causes him to jump in his seat. Kirigiri casts him an inquisitive stare before she seems to realize, and then her attention is drawn back to her notes.

                What he thinks is a message from Togami is actually just a “ _hi”_ from Kuwata, who goes to a completely separate school. Naegi ignores it for the time being and turns back to his notes. He doesn’t want to admit to himself that he’s just a bit disappointed that Togami wasn’t the one who messaged.

 

                Over the course of the next week, the two rarely partake in conversations. They’ve had only two – the first, Naegi asked why Togami decided to call off the engagement, to which he was told that the matter was “none of his concern”, and then the messaging halted until the following Saturday. The second conversation happens _on_ that Saturday; Togami practically demands via text message that Naegi pay him a visit, to which Naegi responded that he was busy, and Togami stated that he would go over to the former’s apartment.

                He walks the distance between his apartment and Togami’s home out of old habit; he’s always walked there, rarely ever taken a car. The walk is nostalgically familiar; he notices that the neighborhood fixed the crack in the sidewalk that he almost always tripped over, the one sitting a few feet before a slow turn to the right. Naegi realized on Wednesday that he still had small remains of romantic feelings left over for Togami, but he’d never expected to immediately get over Togami and he still doesn’t think he’s going to for a long while.

                The realization, of course, almost hurt worse than the breakup did.

                At a slow and almost mechanical gait, he steps up the walkway to Togami’s front door. Part of him says that he should leave; the other part tells him to stay and see what Togami wants. He still wonders why Togami so suddenly called off the engagement, why Togami bothered to tell him after they didn’t talk for two months, and why Togami absolutely needs to see him today of all days, though asking thus far has yielded no answers.

                Upon reaching the front door, he hesitates. The last time he stood at that spot, his entire world began to crumble. The rubble only just began to build back up as everything slowly stitched back together, but Naegi doesn’t know what he’ll do if everything falls again. Despite the uncomfortable feeling of a nervous stomachache, he presses the small button next to the door and waits.

                The door opens slowly and then there’s Togami, dressed in his typical formal attire. Naegi _thinks_ he spots the corners of Togami’s mouth curve upwards, but he passes it off as nothing more than an edgy hallucination. What catches Naegi off guard is the way Togami takes a few steps forward until he’s standing on the doorstep a foot from where the former is, and then he flatly says, “I’ve got errands to run.”

                “Then why did you –”

                “Come with me.” Togami takes a step around where Naegi stands and strolls down the stairs with his head held high and his eyes never leaving the gate ahead.

                “But –”

                “This is non-negotiable.” Togami stops mid-gait and looks over his shoulder, narrowing his eyes, and when Naegi turns momentarily to close the front door, the blonde continues on his way. Naegi assumes he’s going to become an errand-boy, but nonetheless, his resistance is utterly shattered, so he follows along.

 

                Naegi doesn’t expect for Togami to have to drive for a full hour. Neither of them speaks much in the car; still seeking answers, the brunette questions as to why the engagement ended up cancelled, to which Togami snaps that it is not – nor has it ever been – Naegi’s concern. By now, Naegi’s fairly frustrated with Togami, but he refuses to ask again to save himself the trouble.

                Eventually, as they pull up into the parking lot of some type of restaurant Naegi has never heard of before, Togami inquires why Naegi looks so sour.

                “It _is_ my business.” Naegi protests in a soft murmur.

                Togami cocks an eyebrow, hand hovering over the gear shift, the other placed on the wheel still. “Oh? Why, exactly, is that?”

                “Because --!” Naegi begins stubbornly, cutting off the moment after he realizes he’s shouting., but he continues in a loud holler anyway, “We didn’t talk for two months, and suddenly you show up at my door and tell me the engagement’s off and that it’s _imperative_ that you speak with me, and you keep saying that it’s none of my business! If it really wasn’t in the first place, would you have even bothered to tell me?”

                Togami blinks, going slightly wide-eyed at Naegi’s tone; the latter rarely, if ever, raises his voice – least of all at _Togami_. His gaze then shifts away as his eyes return to normal size, and a low _hmph_ sounds from his closed mouth.

                “It’s always been my concern.” The brunette glances down at his feet, his voice dropping to an almost inaudible whisper. “Even before we stopped talking.”

                “I decided,” Togami begins in a prestigious tone, “that I no longer require a wife at my side to become the best possible heir to my family’s company. I am perfectly capable of taking on such a huge task without such arrangements; thus, I’ve gotten approval from my family itself to call off the engagement. It’s simple.”

                “You insisted that it was necessary for you to get married and now you’ve completely changed your mind…” Naegi trails off, shakes his head once, and then looks up at Togami. “I don’t understand you at all.”

                Togami unbuckles his seatbelt and Naegi assumes that the conversation halts there and follows suit, preparing to get out of the car with his hand on the door’s handle. He hardly has time to open the door, however, when the heir leans over the console, sweeps his hand under Naegi’s chin, and presses their lips together in a soft kiss. Naegi’s eyes widen on contact; blood rushes in his ears, and the harsh way his heart pounds against his ribcage makes him think that his chest is going to burst open.

                He doesn’t know what to say when Togami pulls away and casually exits the vehicle as if nothing happened, but Naegi’s not letting him get away without an explanation. He whips the door open and slams it shut after getting out, following Togami at a fast gait until he catches up. They’re almost at the restaurant doors when he demands, “What was _that_?”

                “Isn’t it obvious? I kissed –”

                “ _Why_?” Naegi hisses, blocking Togami’s path into the building. “I thought that – I thought that you were completely over me.”

                Togami crosses his arms over his chest, staring down Naegi with sharp blue eyes, and grunts. “Imbecile.” His arms drop to his sides; one of his hands rises upwards to adjust his glasses, and then falls back down. He steps around Naegi, and the other murmurs,

                “I love you, still, Togami-kun.”

                The latter stops, hand raised towards the handle on the door, and a smirk plays on his lips. “This is a date, you realize.”

                “I – wait, what if I didn’t accept? You just assumed that I was going to –” Naegi cuts off as Togami steps through the doorway, following moments later. The irritation he’s felt for the longest time dissipates almost instantly, and as he falls into step beside Togami, a large smile forms on his lips. The moment Togami catches it, he returns the smile, and Naegi affectionately leans against the blonde and chuckles joyously to himself. 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I finished this miniseries thing I guess. It was a lot of fun. I'm sorry that this is so long *rolls*


End file.
